"They give people hope, too, you know."
Kinsman clenched his empty hand. "You'll never make a new society on Earth, kid. Too many self-interests. Too much history to undo. Society's locked in place here. The only way to unlock it is to build a showplace . . ."
"A Utopia?" She grinned at the thought.
"It won't be Utopia. But it'll be better than anything here on Earth."
She started to shake her head again, but Kinsman leaned forward intently. "Listen to me," he said urgently. "Whether you agree with me or not doesn't matter. But you've got to tell Neal that the longer he fights against the Moonbase appropriation the closer he's pushing us into a major confron- 194 tation in space, a full-scale conflict with the Russians that can only end in nuclear war,"
Diane stared at him. "I should tell Neal . . . why do you think that I—"
"You've got to!" Kinsman insisted. "I can't talk to him directly. Not even through Mary-Ellen. They'll know what I'm doing: the brass, the people who are pushing us toward war. But you can warn him. He'd listen to you."
Her face was a frantic mixture of fear and disbelief. "But I won't see him until—"
"See him! Tell him! It's important. Vital."
"But why can't you—"
"He'd want specifics from me that I can't give him. And any conversations I have with him are probably monitored."
"How did you—"
"You can talk to him," Kinsman went on, ignoring her objections. "Tell him it's either a peaceful Moonbase or the spaceplane interceptor. He'll understand."
Kinsman walked Diane to the front entrance of the Capitol and down the long granite steps that gave the building its impressive facade. Larry Davis was waiting for her in a real limousine, long and luxurious, pearl gray, with a liveried black driver.
"Come on!" he yelled out the car window. "We'll miss the flight and there's not another one till six!"
Kinsman deliberately held Diane for a moment and kissed her. She seemed surprised.
"Call me when you get back to town," he said.
"Okay," she answered shakily.
"And talk to Neal."
"Yes . . . yes." She ran down the last few steps and into the waiting limousine.
